Canada was awarded bronze in the men’s 4×100-metre relay after finishing fourth in the race before moving up after the U.S. sprint team was disqualified.
The relay team, Akeem Haynes, Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse, posted a time of 37.64 seconds.
Anchored by track star Usain Bolt, Jamaica took in the gold with a time of 37.27 seconds and Japan won the silver with a time of 37.60 seconds.
The United States was disqualified for illegally exchanging the baton outside the zone during the first pass of the race.
READ MORE: Canada’s Evan Dunfee comes in fourth, then gets bronze, then fourth again in race walk
Some questions were also raised about Japan’s apparent line infraction after one of its runners’ stepped on the lane separation line.
Anchored by star sprinter De Grasse, the men’s team set a new Canadian record in the men’s relay.
The bronze medal is De Grasse’s third medal of the Rio Olympics, becoming the first Canadian to triple medal in the 100-metre, 200-metre and 4×100-metre relay at an Olympics.
“I’m proud of those guys, we came away with a national record, it’s an exciting feeling,” De Grasse said of the race. “We were surprised with Japan, they were awesome. I needed one more metre to catch those guys, my legs were a little fatigued, could have got silver, we were so close. I came in wanting to win three Olympic medals, and I’ve done that, it’s a dream come true.
“Next time I just want to upgrade those medals.” De Grasse said.
The bronze in the 4×100-metre gave Canada its 21st medal at the Rio Olympics.
Bolt earned his ninth Olympic gold as the result of the relay, sweeping sprint titles in three consecutive Summer Games.
“There you go, I am the greatest,” Bolt said of his gold medal and triple-triple. “”I am just relieved. It’s happened. I am just happy, proud of myself. It’s come true. The pressure is real. I look at it as an accomplishment.”
Bolt said he’ll “stay up late tonight” to celebrate his accomplishments.
The U.S. began to celebrate its third place finish before the review of the baton passing, resulting in the disqualification.
“It was the twilight zone. It was a nightmare,” U.S. sprinter Justin Gatlin said. “You work so hard with your teammates, guys you compete against almost all year long. All that hard work just crumbles.”
“Hell, we already did the victory lap and then when we talked to TV, they told us,” Tyson Gay said.
At 11:35 p.m. ET the U.S. Track and Field team’s Twitter account announced that the team has appealed the ruling.
“They said Justin got the stick before the exchange zone. I don’t really know the rules but I know if you get it before, you’re DQ’d,” Gay said. “That happened to us in 2009 if I’m not mistaken. But he’s saying he didn’t grab it until he got across it so, hopefully, we can do some type of appeal.”
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